LFP Monday Video - Garbage!

This is on my list of movies to see very soon. Please comment below if you've had a chance to see it!

Here's an interview with the director.

CFL-Timer Update

So my little experiment in the tv room was for not... the timer-cfl combination resulted in one burnt out cfl. Probably too much juice when the timer kicked in or something.

A handy reminder then:

• Not all CFLs will work with timers or dimmers. Look for a bulb specifically designed for this purpose.


• Disposal of CFLs requires special attention. I now have to start a box in the garage until my next trip to the recycling centre. That one little drop of mercury shouldn't end up in the regular garbage.

More on garbage soon...

Time to Do My Taxes

Actually, I'm still working on the thesis this week, so the taxes will have to wait for a little while. I did pick up my tax software package tonight and while I did feel bad about using any packaging (I should have downloaded it!), I was very happy to recognize the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) logo on the side of the box.

This is the first time I've seen the logo out in the real world since I first learned about it in Ecoholic.

Way to go QuickTax!

A Smile for Monday II

Here's another great little video... "Nope, just naked."

Jackson Browne Sues John McCain

It's bad enough that John McCain was blissfully unaware of what was going on behind the scenes during his recent presidential bid and that the RNC has no respect for artists' rights, but the biggest insult of all was to use the music of a green friend, Jackson Browne to criticize Obama's energy policy!

Dirty pool.

The video has since been pulled from YouTube.

How do you calculate the cost of a CFL?

In the last post, I quickly calculated the cost of running a CFL for 8 hours and knew how much a comparable incandescent bulb would cost. How did I do the math?

I used an online CFL cost calculator.

Do you have an interesting situation that saves a ton by using a CFL? Let me know!

Timers and CFLs

I don't get frustrated easily, but when there are three people living in one house, I'm never sure if I'm the last one going to bed or not. With my studies, I sometimes disappear into my room at a relatively early hour and simply go to bed without coming out again.

So when I get up in the morning and find a living room light still burning, part of my eco-heart dies.

The fix? Another timer and a CFL bulb. I set the timer to come on at 6pm and go off at midnight. That about matches the current sunset (I'll adjust it as spring creeps in) and most of us are in bed by midnight. While having a light on for six hours even if no one is home seems wasteful, the reality is that most nights the light is on from before midnight until I turn it off around 8am. So, I've just saved 8 hours of usage a day.

Do the math: This immediately saves me about $4 per year (almost $18 if it had been an incandescent bulb!). This clearly pays for the timer and the bulb.

This makes me think about the outdoor lights which also sometimes get left on (mostly by me!). A simple replacement of the wall switch should do the trick and actually improve security. A see a trip to the hardware store!